Our Daughter's Life
by Ariadnerue
Summary: In which Snow is staring at a box, and Charming stares at it too. Charming Family feels, Snow/Charming.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Once Upon A Time belongs to ABC._

_Guys I think I have a problem. I can't stop writing these OUAT oneshots. I CAN'T. I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS. "She doesn't even go here!" ...So now that we have the Mean Girls reference out of the way, here's this story about things as requested by Gimelh._

_EDIT: I've added a second chapter. WHAT? Yeah I know._

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"Snow?"

Snow didn't move from where she sat on her bed, leaning against the headboard with her knees drawn up to her chin.

David approached her slowly, having just come home from the sheriff station. Emma was on the night shift, so she had just left after tucking Henry in upstairs. Snow was staring at something at the end of the bed, her eyebrows drawn down seriously. David looked where she was staring and was surprised to see an old cardboard box.

"Snow, what's wrong?" he asked gently. She still didn't say anything, so he sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist. She glanced at him, but otherwise didn't move. He frowned, concerned, and looked back at the box. "What's in the box?"

Snow took a deep breath. He looked over at her, loosening his grip on her waist as she sat up a bit and stretched her legs out in front of her. He felt her joints creaking a bit and wondered how long she had been sitting like that. After another long silence, she sighed.

"Our daughter's life is in that box," Snow said quietly.

David suddenly felt like there wasn't quite enough air for him to breathe. He turned slowly and settled his eyes on the box again. It was then that he noticed the corner of a blanket hanging over the edge. He inhaled sharply at the sight of it, and he suddenly understood why Snow had been sitting there in silence, staring at this innocent-looking box.

"Is that…" he began breathlessly, and he reached forward hesitantly. Snow watched him in silence as he gently removed the blanket and held it in his hands. He was breathing hard, like he'd just run all the way home from the station, as he stared at it. Such a simple thing, just a white knitted blanket with a violet ribbon around the edge and a name stitched along the bottom in the same color. But it was a powerful thing, too. This was the blanket his baby was wrapped in when he placed her in the enchanted wardrobe and sent her away from them. "She kept it. I can't… I can't believe she kept it…"

"Emma caught me staring at it while I was cleaning a few days ago. She told me it was all she had of us," Snow whispered, and David tore his eyes from the blanket to look at his wife. Her bright green eyes were wet with tears. "She just brought the whole box down before she left for work."

Both of them returned their gazes to the box at the end of the bed. "Did she say what else is in it?" David asked, his voice low and halting.

Snow shrugged a bit. "Newspaper clippings," she murmured. "School photos. Things she kept that she thought would help her…" Her voice caught. David took her hand wordlessly and she laced her fingers through his. "Things she thought would help her find us."

David let out a shaky breath. Snow reached over and ran her fingers over the name embroidered into the blanket, which David still clutched in his hand.

"I feel so guilty, David," Snow whispered suddenly, and David could hear the pain in her voice. She wouldn't meet his eyes, she just stared at the blanket. "I know we had to send her through, I know there was no alternative. I know that. But…" Her voice broke and she squeezed his hand hard.

"But you still wish there was some way we could have been there for her," David finished for her. She met his eyes, tears running down her cheeks, and in that moment she knew he was feeling exactly what she was. He laid the blanket in her lap and reached up, gently wiping away her tears with his thumb. "I carry that guilt with me too, Snow. No matter what we do, no matter what anyone does…" He squeezed his eyes shut briefly. "Our baby grew up alone."

Snow swallowed hard, and David could see she was struggling to keep from crying. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into an urgent embrace. She clenched her fists in the fabric of his shirt and let out a sob, the sound muffled against his shoulder. He just held her tighter, burying his face in her hair and letting his own tears fall.

He didn't know how long they sat together like that, David gently rocking them back and forth as Snow sobbed into his chest. But eventually Snow's tears quieted, and without a word she took his face in her hands and pulled his lips to hers. She did this sometimes, felt the need to be close to him when she was faced with the reality they were in. He knew the feeling, so he ran his hands up her back and leaned into her. She sighed into his mouth, running one hand up the back of his head to press his lips harder to hers. She tilted her head eagerly, parting her lips to allow him in, and he couldn't help but chuckle a bit. She was always so impatient.

When they eventually parted to breathe, her lips were red and swollen, her cheeks flushed, and her eyelids lowered drowsily.

"Charming," she said softly. She didn't say anything more, just stated his name. David smiled. He always loved the way she said the name she had given him. There was so much in those two syllables. Others called him Charming, but it never sounded the same as when she did. Whether she laughed his name or cried it or called it out when they were in bed together or shouted it when he was in danger, there was so much there. Affection, possession, desire, fondness, but most of all, love.

He mentioned it to her once, back in their land, and asked if he should make up a name for her. But she had just laughed and said she heard all those things when he just called her Snow.

"Snow," he replied gently. She let out a slow breath to steady herself and turned her gaze back to the box. David looked as well, feeling her hands slide down his chest and settle on the blanket in her lap between them.

"Are you ready?" she whispered, eyes never leaving the box.

"I've been ready since she was born," he replied just as quietly. He loosened his hold on her and she reached for the box, dragging it carefully toward them. They sat side by side on the bed, both eager to see what else was inside but terrified at the same time.

Snow swallowed hard and reached in first, pulling out an old manila envelope. "Emma used to look at this before the Curse was broken," she whispered, glancing at David. He nodded for her to open it, and a folder slid out. With another deep breath, Snow opened the folder to find it was full of newspaper clippings and foster care records. Snow covered her mouth with a hand as they both read the headlines, calling them deadbeat parents. Apparently it was a big story when a baby was found by a little boy on the side of the highway, and there were articles following "baby Emma" up until the first time she was adopted.

David's eyes were drawn to a photo paper-clipped to the right side of the folder. It was a little girl with long blonde hair in braids, looking at the camera with bright, sad blue eyes. Snow looked at it as well, and he heard her sniffle a bit.

"She looked just like I did at that age," she whispered wonderingly. She reached out and touched the picture with her fingertips softly as though she was afraid it would dissolve. Then she let out a teary laugh. "Except her hair and her eyes. That's all you, Charming."

David laughed and wiped his eyes. He reached into the box next, pulling out thick brown folder. They paged through it together, finding report cards and school photos. Snow couldn't help but cry a bit over the pictures, seeing Emma age year by year.

They poured over the box for at least an hour, finding records of every foster home, every orphanage, every adopted family, every school, every visit to the doctor and the dentist. And then there were the things Emma had saved. There wasn't much, just a few small things from her childhood she was unwilling to part with.

There was a teddy bear, very similar to the one Snow had found in the ruins of the nursery back home, which David held in his hands and stared at for a long time. There were a few slightly crumpled drawings from when she was quite young, pictures of ponies and flowers and castles drawn with crayons or finger paints. There was one birthday card, given to her by a friend when she turned twelve. That made Snow cry all over again.

But the last thing they found in the box was the one that surprised them the most. Snow drew out the final item and held it up for David to see. They both stared at it in silence for a long time.

It was a book. Grimm's Fairy Tales.

Snow and David finally met each other's eyes. Snow couldn't seem to decide how she felt about the worn old book in her hands. She looked a bit sad, a bit surprised, a bit hopeful. David took the book from her gently and opened the cover. On the inside was a sticker that read "This book belongs to" with a line beneath it. Scrawled on the line in blue marker was "Emma," written in letters that suggested she had been very young when she wrote them.

One page in the book was dog-eared to save the place. David swallowed hard and turned to that page. He and Snow both gasped.

"Snow White," Snow breathed. She looked at David, her eyes wide. "The only page she saved was the story of Snow White."

David shook his head slowly, confused. "What… I mean… does this mean something?" he whispered.

"I don't know," Snow replied lowly. "Maybe… maybe she just felt a connection to us somehow…"

"How is that even possible?" David asked, more to himself than to Snow.

Snow took the book from his hands and leafed through it quickly. She closed it and stared at the cover. No pictures, just the title, much like Henry's book. She sighed.

"I just don't know," she said softly. Then she shook herself a bit and glanced at her husband. "We should ask her about it tomorrow."

"Definitely," David nodded. They both stared at the book again for a short while. Then David took Snow's hand again. "You said she kept the blanket because it was all she had of us." Snow met his eyes and nodded, a bit confused. "Well maybe… maybe she kept this book all these years for the same reason."

Snow exhaled heavily, tears filling her eyes again as she smiled at her husband. "Charming," she whispered, her breath catching in her chest. She didn't say anything more, but he understood.

"Snow," he replied fondly. He leaned forward and gave her a soft, lingering kiss. When he pulled away, her eyes were closed contentedly, so he smiled and started carefully packing everything back into the box. Snow's eyes fluttered open and she watched him.

"How about we go through all of this again tomorrow…" he began quietly. He turned and met her eyes. "With Emma?"

Snow just gave him an ardent smile in response. So he finished with the box and pushed it back to the end of their bed, and before he knew it Snow was pulling him back to her for a long, slow kiss. David smiled against her lips.

"Thanks, Charming," she murmured against his mouth.

David pulled back a bit and looked at her. "For what?" he asked quietly.

She grinned at him. "For doing this with me," she whispered, glancing at the box.

"Why wouldn't I?" he laughed lightly. "She's our daughter."

Snow closed her eyes at the sound of those words.

"Yes," she sighed, a smile on her lips. "She is."


	2. Chapter 2

_Well this is something I've never done before. I'm adding a second chapter to a oneshot. The very idea! But I got so many requests for it, I just couldn't not write it. I just couldn't! Not! Couldn't not!_

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When Emma came down the stairs the next afternoon after sleeping all morning, she found both of her parents in the kitchen speaking quietly. The moment they noticed her, they fell silent. Snow pretended to be doing dishes, David just stood awkwardly as he tried to decide what to pretend to do. Emma sighed heavily as she reached the kitchen.

"Alright, I knew this was coming," Emma said flatly as she perched herself on a stool at the counter. She gave her parents a level look. Snow stopped pretending to do the dishes with a sigh. Emma gathered her thoughts for a moment before she looked up at her parents again. "You went through my box last night."

Snow and David exchanged a weighted glance. Then they both nodded silently.

Emma sighed again and leaned her elbows on the counter. "I saw how interested you were in my blanket," she said quietly, her eyes flicking briefly to Snow. "I thought you would want to see everything else I saved. I didn't mean for it to be a… like a big deal or anything…"

Snow laughed a bit and shook her head in exasperation. "Emma," she sighed, smiling fondly at her daughter. "It was a big deal."

Emma shrugged evasively, glancing away from her parents. "Besides the blanket, it was just junk I held on to," she muttered.

Snow frowned. "How can you say that?" she asked, sounding equally sad and confused. David sighed and crossed the kitchen to the bedroom without either woman noticing. "Everything in that box was… precious to you."

Emma rolled her eyes. "It's just a bunch of old papers," she quipped, a slight whining lilt to her voice that made David laugh to himself as he carried the box into the kitchen. He placed the box on the counter and sat down on the stool beside Emma's, still unnoticed by his wife and daughter as they argued. "And I really hate the world 'precious.'"

David reached into the box and pulled out the teddy bear. He cleared his throat pointedly to get Emma and Snow to look at him. He silently held the bear out to Emma, and her eyes went wide. She stretched a hesitant hand toward it.

"Baloo," Emma whispered, surprised. She carefully took the bear in her hands and stared at it, her mouth hanging open slightly. "I forgot he was in there."

"A bunch of old papers, huh?" David asked, grinning at Snow. Snow rolled her eyes, but she gave him an appreciative smile all the same.

Emma didn't notice the exchange. She was still staring at Baloo with something akin to shock. Finally, she looked up at her parents again.

"Okay, fine," Emma said grudgingly. "It's a big deal."

Snow grinned triumphantly. "So… can we talk about this?" she asked gently.

Emma glanced between her parents, then turned her eyes back to the bear in her hands. She swallowed hard and placed the bear in her lap. Then, with a long sigh, she nodded. "Okay," she grumbled. "Let's talk."

Snow could barely stop herself from jumping up and down and clapping. She grabbed Emma by the elbow and dragged her over to her bed. David only rolled his eyes a little bit as he carried the box back over to where it had started, and the two women sat down side-by-side on the mattress. David pulled up a chair to one side of the bed and placed the box between the three of them. They all stared at it for a few silent moments, Emma still cradling her bear in her lap.

Snow moved first, automatically reaching for the blanket and lifting it to her face to smell it, eyes closed. David gave her an odd look and she blushed in embarrassment.

"It still… it still smells like a baby," she whispered. "I forgot to mention that last night."

David snatched it out of her hands and smelled it, eyes wide. His gaze flicked up to Emma, then over to Snow. She smiled sadly at the tears in his eyes.

"It smells… pink," he stated simply, and Snow laughed.

Emma wasn't sure how to react. She bit her lip and looked around. "Where's Henry?" she asked uncomfortably.

Snow frowned at her. "You know full well he's having lunch with Regina today," she replied in what Emma had come to refer to as her 'teacher voice.' David knew it was only a matter of time before she started calling it her 'mom voice.' "Now don't change the subject."

"I wasn't-" Emma began to protest, but Snow just gave her a look and she fell silent. David laughed, and they both looked at him. He shook his head a little, the blanket still in his lap and a smile on his face.

"You two are so much alike," he said frankly. Emma blushed and looked back down at her bear, but Snow smiled gratefully. David could see tears in her eyes, so he quickly grabbed a folder out of the box to move the subject along. It was the folder with the newspaper articles, which David spread open on the bed. Emma winced at bit when she read the headlines.

"I forgot these are kind of… strongly worded," she admitted.

Snow glanced away and David shook his head. "They're not wrong," he said quietly, and Emma was a bit startled by the pain in his voice. She clutched her bear a little tighter. He sighed and looked down at the blanket in his lap. "We were frozen in time, but you…" He ran a hand through his hair anxiously. "You were alone for your whole life, just like you said."

Emma met David's eyes and swallowed hard. His bright blue eyes, so like hers, were full of tears. He glanced away from her and Emma suddenly found it hard to breathe. She turned her wide eyes to Snow, only to find that she wouldn't look at her either. She was staring fixedly at the box between them, hugging her arms as tears dripped from her chin.

"Hey," Emma said breathlessly, looking between them again. "You guys… you know I don't… blame you for all this…"

"Gods, Emma, don't," Snow blurted and wiped her eyes hastily with the back of her hand. "You have every right to be angry. We…" She let out a shuddering breath and looked over at her husband. He was trying to compose himself, sniffling and wiping his eyes, but it didn't seem to be working. Snow shook her head and looked down at her lap. "We deserve it."

"I'm not angry," Emma breathed desperately. Snow gave her a doubtful look, her shoulders shaking as she tried to keep from sobbing. Emma realized then that she was crying too, feeling her breath catching and the tears running down her cheeks. It had snuck up on her. "I'm not anymore. I was… for a really long time… but I can't be anymore." David glanced up at her. "How can I be mad at you when… when I see how much pain you're both in?" Snow finally looked up at her as well. "You had no other choice. You know I know that, right?"

When she didn't get a response from either of them, she sighed in frustration. She grabbed one of Snow's hands in both of hers and Snow looked at her in surprise. "I was there with you in the nursery, remember?" Emma said sternly. "I saw everything you wanted for me. I saw you crying when we left. And you," she said, rounding on David so suddenly he jumped. "I've read Henry's book, I know why you were in that coma. You almost died to get me to that wardrobe, to save me."

Emma closed the folder and shoved it back in its envelope, scowling. "I know that you wanted me. I'm not angry and I don't blame you," she said firmly. She met Snow's eyes, then David's. "Okay?"

David smiled. He nodded and wiped his eyes again, and Emma smiled at him in relief. Snow took a bit more persuasion. Emma was still holding onto her hand, so she squeezed it to try to get her attention. David silently took her other hand in his and laid the baby blanket in her lap. She finally let out a teary laugh.

"Okay," Snow said at length. Emma exhaled heavily in relief.

"Okay," Emma repeated with a nod. She let go of Snow's hand so she could wipe her eyes, and her parents both took a moment to do the same. When they had all suitably composed themselves, they shared an awkward laugh and dug back into the box.

Emma told them brief stories about all of the foster homes she had lived in. She laughed a great deal and got very embarrassed when they dug out the pictures she had drawn when she was young. Snow cried again over the birthday card and it took Emma and David a while to calm her back down.

Finally, they were down to the last item in the box. Emma reached in and pulled out the old, tattered copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales. When she saw it, she jerked back in surprise. David and Snow both watched her warily as she stared at the cover.

"Oh wow," she whispered, turning the book over in her hands. "I forgot about this."

Snow cleared her throat and glanced at David. "You saved a page in it," she said quietly.

Emma glanced between her parents briefly before she opened the book to the dog-eared page. The story of Snow White. Her eyes went wide.

"Oh my god," Emma breathed. She looked up at her parents. "Oh my god."

"What?" Snow asked, concerned.

"This book," Emma continued breathlessly. "This story. I used to read it all the time. When I was little I would…" She trailed off, her breath catching in her chest. She looked up at her parents, a thoughtful frown on her face and her eyes still wide. "Me and the other kids in the foster homes… we would tell each other stories of what we hoped our real parents were like and how they would come find us someday." Emma sniffled, running her fingers over the page. "When I was five years old, I took this book from the lost-and-found box at school. I used to read it cover to cover every day. And when me and the other kids talked about who we imagined our parents were…" She smiled softly, tears dripping from her chin. "I said I wanted them to be like Snow White and Prince Charming."

Snow and David both stared at their daughter, eyes wide and full of tears. They weren't quite sure what to say, so Emma laughed a bit and looked down sheepishly.

"I guess I'm really lucky," Emma said quietly as she wiped her eyes. "I'm probably the only kid who found her parents… and they turned out exactly how I wanted."

At that David lurched forward, shoving the box out of the way and pulling Emma into his arms. Emma laughed, embarrassed, as he held her to his chest and kissed her head. Snow laughed, and David removed one arm from Emma and wrapped it around his wife, pulling all three of them into a laughing, crying group hug.

"I don't understand," Snow said breathlessly when the hug eventually dissolved. "Did you… could you remember us? I mean even in some small way?"

Emma shrugged, holding her bear in her hands again. "I might have," she admitted, though she sounded a bit confused. "I mean… if I did, it wasn't like a distinct memory so much as… a feeling."

David let out a long, slow breath. "It's just incredible," he said quietly. "There was only a space of about five minutes between your birth and your trip through the wardrobe."

"Like I said, it wasn't a memory," Emma shrugged again. "Just a feeling."

After a short silence, David and Emma started packing everything back into the box. But Emma held onto Baloo, and Snow still held the blanket as she stared at her daughter. When they'd finished putting everything away, Emma glanced over at her mother. Snow just kept staring at her.

"What is it?" Emma asked, embarrassed.

Snow took a deep breath. "Did we really…" she began hesitantly. "Are we really exactly what you wanted?"

Emma laughed and looked down at her bear. David smiled and took Snow's hand again.

"Maybe not exactly," Emma said in a highly exaggerated fashion that made her parents laugh. "I mean… I figured you'd be a bit older."


End file.
